Backend Engineer PHP / NodeJS

About

EdSpan is an innovative EdTech company dedicated to creating cutting-edge learning experiences that empower the next generation of students. Our collaboration with a US-based private school network helps us better understand user needs while expanding our B2C and B2B products to a broader audience. Our current focus includes an AI-guided tutoring experiences, a peer-to-peer tutoring platform, and a custom learning management system.

We operate within a framework of clearly defined processes supported by automation for routine tasks, and open, productive collaboration across the team. Our workflows are based on Agile principles, with daily stand-ups, bi-weekly sprints, and other key Scrum practices. At the same time, we keep meetings to a minimum to ensure everyone can stay focused on delivering high-quality results and continuing to grow professionally.

Requirements

• 4 or more years of experience in backend development
• Experience with PHP: version 8.0 and above, Laravel or Symfony frameworks
• Experience with NodeJS: any of TypeScript-based frameworks
• Good understanding of OOP principles and best practices (DRY, KISS, SOLID)
• Familiarity with Domain-Driven Design (DDD)
• Strong knowledge of relational databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc.) and good understanding of non-relational databases (Redis, OpenSearch, or other)
• Practical experience with Docker, docker-compose, and CI/CD pipelines
• Experience writing unit and integration tests

• Intermediate level of English (B1) or above

   

Would be a plus

• Hands-on experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) - third-party integrations or hosted models, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) pipelines, LLM Engineering Platforms
• Practical knowledge of cloud infrastructure (AWS or other providers) beyond basic object storage and compute instances

• Familiarity with real-time communication technologies such as WebSockets or WebRTC

   

Responsibilities

• Implement new features following architecture guidelines, review the code of your peers
• Write code following best practices, common design patterns, and Domain-Driven Design ideas
• Integration with 3rd party services (including LLMs, Payment Service Providers, Text-to-Speech, realtime communication and more)
• Debug and fix issues on staging and production environments
• Preparing Swagger schema definitions and implementing automated tests
• Scope decomposition and task estimation
• Participate in daily meetings and other scrum rituals